Previews

Scarface

The most beloved drug dealer in history is back, and he's getting a second chance at life.

Spiffy:

Accurately captures the feel of the movie; gritty, pull-no-punches dialogue; taunting mechanic could be interesting.

Iffy:

Will it be just another GTA clone?

When we last saw Tony Montana, he was lying facedown in a fountain that was gradually filling with his own blood, the victim of unnumerable gunshot wounds inflicted by a Columbian death squad. The final shot in Brian De Palma's 1983 film "Scarface" presented an inevitability for a character that lived a life full of drugs, violence, and danger. While we were all certain that it couldn't end any other way, the developers at Radical are preparing to present us with a different reality, one in which Tony kills his attackers and escapes into the night, surviving to fight another day.

This is how the video game version of Scarface begins, and from there Tony goes into hiding for several months, plotting and planning his revenge on the criminal organization that killed his sister, destroyed his business, and almost put him in the ground. In order to make it back to the top, he'll need to rebuild his empire one gram at a time. This is where the player comes in, as you must take control of every facet of your business, from smuggling the cocaine into Miami to laundering your hard-earned money.

Although we didn't get to play the game, we were told that it will have a mission-based structure, similar to the one found in the Grand Theft Auto series. This is fitting, of course, given that Vice City borrowed heavily from the landmark film, featuring enough pastel shirts, speedboats, and yayo-fueled nights to keep Manny and Gina happy forever. Even GTA III featured a radio station that played nothing but music from the movie, including the classic party anthem "Push it to the Limit." However, while Vice City was loosely based on Miami, Scarface drops you into the real thing. While the map isn't geographically accurate, you'll see plenty of the same landmarks seen in the movie.

In order to build your reputation back up, you'll have to eliminate your competition and evade the police and DEA agents. The reputation is presented as a number that can fluctuate depending on your possessions and your actions, but we don't know yet whether you'll be have free rein to complete the game in whatever manner you see fit, or if the missions are more linear in nature. Either way, you can be sure that you'll be seeing plenty of high-speed car chases and violent shootouts. In fact, when Tony's ready to introduce you to his little friend (his weapon of choice, that is), he'll have a few interesting gameplay mechanics at his disposal to get the upper hand on his foes.